Since this is a blog and not a book, I cannot provide a detailed study, instead
I will highlight and briefly explain the passages which speak of Christ. I will
be using the KJV and the English Majority Text
Version (marked in this color).
Chapter 1
1:3
We give thanks to God and the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ
v 3 or a more literal translation, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
This tells us very clearly that God
the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are separate and distinct persons. And,
that God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. We mustn’t confuse them. This
also tells us that Jesus is both Lord and Christ. This of course is the essence
of the Christian faith.
1:13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
[us] into the
kingdom of his dear Son:
Literally, into the kingdom of
the Son of his love. As I already pointed out, God the Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ are separate and distinct persons. What is their
relationship? God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus
Christ is his Son. As the Father testified of Jesus, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
1:14
In whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins:
Christ is our Redeemer.
How did he redeem us? Through his blood. He died on the cross as a
sacrifice for our sins. What is redemption? The forgiveness of sins. It
is the blood of Christ, shed on the tree, that secures our pardon, our
forgiveness, our redemption.
1:15
Who is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every creature:
Wow! This is the deep end of the pool!
Image of the invisible God – we get our word
icon from the Greek word for image. In Hebrews 1:3 we read, Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person.
The brightness of his glory – This is almost
overwhelming. The Son shines with all the glory of God because the Son is
the glory of God!
The express image of his person
express image - the exact
expression (the image) of any person or thing, in every respect
person - The being or
essence of God; his substance. This is reflected in the Creed
We believe in God the Father Almighty…
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only
Begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all
worlds,
Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father;
the firstborn of every creature - the firstborn
of all creation is a better translation. There are people who misunderstand
this verse to be teaching that the Son was the first thing the Father created.
No. First, no creature could possibly be the express image of his person.
Second, no creature could ever be the brightness of His glory. Third, the
following verses completely dispel that heresy.
So what does it mean? It signifies his
preeminence and authority over creation as its Creator. As Athanasius (AD 373)
wrote:
“he was called “Firstborn” because in
him the creation came to be; and as before the creation he was the Son, through
whom was the creation, so also before he was called the Firstborn of the whole
creation, the Word himself was with God and the Word was God. If then the Word
also was one of the creatures, Scripture would have said of him that he was
Firstborn of other creatures; but in fact, “Firstborn of the whole creation”
demonstrates that the Son of God is other than the whole creation and not a
creature.”
1:16 For by him were all things created, that are
in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and
for him:
1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all
things consist.
Christ is the Creator. He created all
things, that is, everything that is created was created by him. He cannot be
both created and creator. Let’s read on, all things were created by and for
him; he is before all things, and by him all things consist!! In
other words, All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3) He is
indeed the firstborn of all creation: he is before all things, created all things, holds it all together.
1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he
might have the preeminence.
This is His relationship to the Church
– He is the head, the church is His body. What does he is the beginning
mean? the next phrase, the firstborn to rise from the dead. He was the
first to rise from the dead, he is the guarantee of our resurrection, He is
Lord of resurrection. He has the preeminence in creation and the new creation.
There is no one like our Jesus! He is the Son of God. He is the Christ. He is
the Savior. He is the glory of God the Father!
This is just the first 18 verses of
chapter 1! I will continue to look through chapter 1 in my next post.*
We believe in one God, the Father
Almighty
Maker of heaven and earth, and of all
things visible and invisible
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only
Begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all
worlds,
Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
Nicene Creed
*We are in Washington D.C. for the
week, I will do my best to keep on schedule.
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